Argentina: 9 dead, 212 injured in bus-train crash

By MICHAEL WARREN, Associated Press
| 10:29 a.m.Sept. 13, 2011

View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
— AP

View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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View of a crash between two passenger trains and a bus in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

ALTERNATIVE CROP OF VC105 - Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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ALTERNATIVE CROP OF VC105 - Police retrieve the body of a train crash victim in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

A rescue worker looks out of a bus window at a train crash scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

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A rescue worker looks out of a bus window at a train crash scene in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

A rescue worker looks out from a cut made on the roof of a bus that collided with a train in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)— AP

+Read Caption

A rescue worker looks out from a cut made on the roof of a bus that collided with a train in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Tuesday, Sept. 13, 2011. At least seven people were killed and over 162 injured in a rush-hour crash involving two trains and a bus whose driver drove around barriers in an attempt to beat them across the tracks, Argentine authorities said. (AP Photo/Victor R. Caivano)
/ AP

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina 
The death toll in Argentina's bus-train crash has risen to nine, with at least 212 people injured.

Emergency officials are still trying to extricate several bodies from under the wreckage left by Tuesday's collision, which happened when a bus driver drove past a barrier with flashing lights and a ringing bell in an attempt to beat trains across the tracks.

Police say at least 20 of the injured are in criticial condition, being treated at hospitals around Buenos Aires.

Argentine Transportation Secretary J.P. Schiavi says the bus driver was among those killed.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP's earlier story is below.

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - A train slammed into a bus trying to beat it across the railroad tracks during rush hour in the Argentine capital Tuesday, ramming the vehicle into a platform and then striking another locomotive head-on. At least seven people were killed and more than 160 injured, authorities said.

The bus driver was among those killed, Argentine Transportation Secretary J.P. Schiavi said.

The force of the arriving train reduced the bus to a fraction of its width as it became wedged against the station platform in the densely populated Flores neighborhood. The front of the train then slammed into another train that was preparing to leave in the opposite direction. Video of the crash shows the bus driving around a partially lowered barrier despite flashing lights that warned of the oncoming train.

As with many crossings in the city, nearby buildings are so close to the tracks that drivers have little visibility of approaching trains.

Schiavi said children were among those injured in the accident, which happened at 6:15 a.m. local time (5:15 a.m. EDT; 0915 GMT), just when many parents use public transportation to take their children to school.

Helicopters helped carry the injured to at least seven hospitals around the city.

According to Argentina's national transportation regulator, 440 people and 165 vehicles were hit by trains in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area last year, causing a total of 269 deaths - more than one every other day on average.

Buenos Aires' passenger rail system moves at street level through most neighborhoods of the capital and the surrounding province, trying the patience of drivers and people walking by who often can be seen ignoring the lights, bells and barriers that signal approaching trains. The potential for collisions increases at rush hour, particularly next to stations, where trains arrive every few minutes and the barriers remain down while passengers get on and off.

The Sarmiento line where Tuesday's collisions occurred connects the suburb of Moreno to the Once station downtown, and has more street-level crossings than any other in the capital. A $1.2 billion project to move its tracks into an underground tunnel has been delayed for more than a decade.